Mine shaft bratticing



1968 H. v. HENDERSON 3,1?,568

MINE SHAFT BRATTICING Filed Oct. 17. 1966 United States Patent 3,417,568MINE SHAFT BRA'ITICING Herbert Victor Henderson, Dawnview, Germiston,Transvaal, Republic of South Africa, assignor to Wright Anderson (SouthAfrica) Limited, Klipfonteiu, Boksburg North, Transvaal, Republic ofSouth Africa Filed Oct. 17, 1966, Ser. No. 587,328

Claims priority, application Republic of South Africa,

Oct. 21, 1965, 65/ 4,746

2 Claims. (Cl. 61-40) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A vertical concretelined mine shaft has vertically spaced horizontally disposed buntonstherein carrying vertically extending corrugated steel panels whichdivide the shaft into updraft and downdraft compartments. The buntonshave their ends embedded in the concrete walls. Anchor plates alsoembedded in the walls are secured to the sides of the panels.

This invention relates to bratticing and more particularly to bratticewalling used in shafts of underground mines.

Brattice walling in the shafts of mines to divide the shaft into variouscompartments for different uses has been utilised for many years. Ingeneral this walling has been erected in reinforced concrete which is alengthy process resulting in a massive structure.

It is the object of the pesent invention to provide brattice Wallingwhich while effectively withstanding the loading applied thereto will bea much lighter structure and one which is more readily erected.

According to this invention there is provided mine shaft bratticewalling comprising steel panels with corrugations formed therein in thevertical direction and with the panels secured to buntons located tospan the shaft.

Further features of this invention provide for the panels to be treatedwith corrosion resistant material where neces-' sary, for the panels tobe made in sections with overlapping vertical edges and for the endedges of the panels to be secured to anchor plates fastened to theperimeter walling for the shaft.

Summary of the invention In summary, the invention relates to the use ofbuntons, corrugated panels, anchor plates and corrugated strips in theforming of brattice Walling in mine shafts to divide the shaft intocompartments for different uses such as updraft and downdraftventilation.

A preferred form of this invention will be described as applied to thebratticing of a circular concrete lined shaft with reference to theaccompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan of the shaft showing the general layout;

FIGS. 2 and 3 show elevations of the bratticing in differentarrangements to the buntons; and

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are details to more fully explain the invention.

In this embodiment a diametrical brattice wall 1 in a say, thirty footdiameter circular shaft, is shown.

In such an application horizontal steel buntons 2 preferably ofstreamlined shape are positioned across the shaft with their ends 3embedded in the concrete peripheral walling 4. This will enable platesof about 7'6" by 6'0" to be manufactured and subsequently welded inpairs to 3,417,568 Patented Dec. 24, 1968 form panels 5 of a size by6'0" with corrugations 6 along the length thereof with a pitch of 6"across the width. The plate used may be from A1" to thick depending onparticular requirements. The figures are given as a practical exampleonly and are in no Way limitative to the scope of the invention.

End anchor plates 7 to Which the panels may be bolted will be embeddedin or bolted to the concrete Walling 4 between buntons 2 and the joints8 will preferably be provided with a rubber or other resilient lining 9.This lining 9 will also be included between the overlapped horizontaland vertical edges of adjacent panels to enable the bratticing to extendright across the shaft. The upper and lower ends of the panels will besuitably secured to the buntons 2.

It Will be noted that the corrugations 6 in the panels have a stiffeningeffect enabling buntons 2 of lighter than normal structure to be used.Also, and particularly Where the brattice Walling is used to determinethe ventilation updraft and downdraft compartments for the shaft, thesurface of the panels will be shot blasted and covered with protectivepaint or other rotective coating such as a complete rubber coating.

The advantages of brattice Walling according to this invention arefirstly with respect to weight and consequent handling problems. In theabove example walling for a shaft 6000 feet deep using A1" plate willweigh about 650 tons compared with the weight of about 5600 tons forbratticing in the form of normal concrete Walling. The concretebratticing will take up to twelve months to complete under normaloperational techniques and steel bratticing would take a veryconsiderably lesser period of time for installation.

Where the shaft is divided as referred to above for ventilation purposesinitially and it is subsequently decided to equip the up-cast or updraftcompartment 10 for hoisting the steel bratticing is recoverable foralternative use or reuse elsewhere. This is not the case where concretebratticing is used.

As can be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3 the bratticing can be made eitheragainst the buntons 2 (FIGS. 2, 4 and 6) or in line with the buntons 2(FIGS. 3 and 5). The latter arrangement giving a slightly larger upcastarea than Would be the case with a continuous bratticing running downthe faces of the buntons 2.

Mating mounting strips 11 are secured either to the sides of the buntons2 or, in the the case of in line bratticing, they are fixed one to thetop and one to the bottom of each bunton 2. The strips 11 have slightlydifferent formations so that the resilient linings 9 can be properlyaccommodated without undue stresses being imparted during erection ofthe bratticing.

T-he FIGS. 4 and 6 also show different profiles to the corrugations. Theserrated type 12 is frequently advantageous in that it is easier tomanufacture and it will be understood that the depth of the corrugations6 will be to a large extent determined by the pressures to be Withstoodby the bratticing.

Additional stability is also imparted to the bunton 2 due to thedividers 13 in the downcast or downdraft coinpartment 14. These dividers13 will be formed in the same manner as buntons 2 and would be requiredto be securely fixed to both the bunton 2 and the shaft side wall 4.

Side fixing plates 7 are bolted to the buntons 2 prior to grouting ofbuntons 2 in shaft wall chase. The fixing plates 7 would then serve bothto ensure an adequate seal through any discrepancies in the concretelining and they would be in lengths suitable to assist in gauging thebunton centres.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a vertical mine shaft, brattice walling comprising verticallyextending steel panels dividing said shaft into plural channelcompartments, said panels having corrugations extending in a verticaldirection, vertically spaced horizontally disposed buntons having theirends secured to the walls of and spanning said shaft, corrugated stripscarried by said buntons, said panels having their upper and lower endssecured to and mating with said strips on said buntons, anchor platessecured to the shaft wall adjacent the ends of said buntons and thesides of said steel panels adjacent said anchor plates being securedthereto.

2. Mine shaft brattice walling as claimed in claim 1 in which resilientsealing linings are employed between overlapping joints of the steelpanels and between the strip and the ends of the steel plates.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,792,084 2/1931 Glasser 61452,149,345 3/1939 Hansaker 6145 2,412,778 12/1946 Kosek 52483 2,610,4709/1952 White 6145 2,923,386 2/1960 Harry 52537 3,113,434 12/1963Phillips 52495 FOREIGN PATENTS 10,638 7/ 1956 Germany. 943,463 5/1956Germany.

HENRY C. SUTHERLAND, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

